Taylor Beckham

Marine Biology
Period 2
Mr. Stradling
November 8, 2016
Chapter 3B Project
In this chapter we learned about waves and their wave cycles. Waves are very
important to the ecosystem and to the ocean. They create currents which are vital for the
oceans to function. Waves are mostly made up of energy. Waves will get bigger for
example, if a boat out in the distance is sailing by and creates energy to make waves. One
thing that is scary about waves though is if waves get too powerful they can turn into
tsunamis and create lots of damage to towns close by the water.
All waves break. Waves will break when they come closer and
closer to the shore. When waves break they become more and
more composed of whitewater. Whitewater is more powerful
than the other water, because after the waves have broke they
are travelling at the shore in high speeds. In fluid dynamics, a
breaking wave is a wave whos amplitude reaches a critical
level at which some process can suddenly start to occur that
causes large amounts of wave energy to be transformed into
(www.NOAA.com photo)turbulent kinetic energy. According
to this quote, when waves break they have a burst of energy which causes them to move
faster and more powerful.
When waves get too powerful, they can form a big series of waves called tsunamis.
Tsunamis can cause mass destruction to towns close to them. They are very large aves
with more than enough power to move several houses and cars at once. When tsunamis
hit a city their houses will be destroyed as well as their outside possessions such as cars
and plants. Nothing can withstand a tsunami unless it was built to survive one. Tsunamis
are so powerful and fast that they can kill many people at once. A tsunami is a series of
ocean waves generated by sudden displacements in the seafloor, landslides, or volcanic
activity. In the deep ocean, the tsunami wave may only be a few inches high. The tsunami
wave may come gently ashore or may increase in height to become a fast moving wall of
turbulent water several meters high. According to this quote, we know that tsunamis can
be caused by earthquakes and plate movements on the bottom of the sea floor.
Tides in the ocean are caused by a number of different things. But every day, the
moon placement will always affect the tides. As the moon is in a certain area, its
gravitational pull will help the tides rise and become stronger. But when the moon is not in
the spot it needs to be, the tides will not be as strong and they will be weak. Two tide
cycles happen every day. So the moon affects these ties everyday. The gravitational

attraction of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon.
Another bulge occurs on the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the
moon (and away from the water on the far side). Since the earth is rotating while this is
happening, two tides occur each day. So according to this, the moons gravitational pull
will pull the water towards it creating bigger waves and tides.
Spring tides and neap tides are both influenced by gravitational pull. Both the sun
and the moon affect the tides on a monthly and everyday basis. When the sun, moon, and
tides have their own alignment, the solar tides will affect the lunar tides. These tides are
very high and very low and they are considered spring tides. A week later lunar tides are
produced. When the sun and the moon are in alignment it will cancel out the solar tide
and make a lunar tides. During each lunar month, two sets of spring and two sets of neap
tides occur. According to this quote, spring tides and neap tides are normal and they
happen each month or lunar month.
A hurricane is a very large storm. It has
winds traveling up to very high speeds. And
because of these winds, it causes mass
destruction. Many different cities across the
country and the whole entire world suffer from
giant hurricanes. Hurricanes can be many
different types. A type 5 hurricane is one of the
largest. A type 5 hurricane causes lots of destruction to the places it hits. (www.
Wikipedia.com photo)Hurricanes usually last for weeks and move 10 to 20 miles per hour
over the ocean. Hurricane Matthew was a recent hurricane in Florida. It caused a lot of
destruction and many people had to leave their homes for evacuation from it.
Ocean currents and tides are like delivery people. They transfer water to different
areas like a conveyor belt. It transports warm water and precipitation from the equator
toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropical areas. And because of
this it regulates global climate helping it distribute the climate. The worlds ocean is
crucial to heating the planet. While land areas and the atmosphere absorb some sunlight,
the majority of the suns radiation is absorbed by the ocean. Particularly in the tropical
waters around the equator, the ocean acts a as massive, heat-retaining solar panel. The
ocean also sucks up most of the suns radiation which contributes to the heating.
In this chapter I learned many new things about the ocean. I learned about tides,
hurricanes, spring and neap tides. I had no idea that the ocean contributed so much to the
earths climate and heating. I learned how much destruction both hurricanes and
tsunamis make. They are both natural disasters and cause lots of damage depending how
big they are and how powerful they are. The ocean is crucial to our survival and we cannot
let it die.

Works Cited
"NOAA's National Ocean Service: Animation of Spring and Neap Tides." US Department of
Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
Wicker, Crystal. "Weather Wiz Kids Weather Information for Kids." Weather Wiz Kids
Weather Information for Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
"How Does the Ocean Affect Climate and Weather on Land?" NOAA Ocean Explorer
Podcast RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.